Beach sights in Southwest England
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Town Beaches
The town beaches of Great Western, Tolcarne and Towan are nearly always crammed to capacity with windbreaks and beach tents thanks to their proximity to town. Things are usually quieter along the coastline at Lusty Glaze and Porth, while surfers haunt the ever-reliable waves of Fistral, England's most famous surfing beach, and the location for the annual Rip Curl Boardmasters surfing festival.
Despite the summer crowds, all the town beaches offer decent facilities and great swimming, plus beach lifeguards throughout the season.
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7-Mile Beach
Backed by 3000 deck chairs, Bournemouth's big draw is its 7-mile sandy beach. Regularly clocking up seaside awards, it stretches from Southborne in the far east to Alum Chine in the west - an immense promenade backed by ornamental gardens, cafés and toilets. It also prides itself on two piers (Bournemouth and Boscombe).
Around Bournemouth Pier you can be part of centuries of tradition and hire beach chalets, deck chairs, windbreaks and parasols, as well as sit-on-board kayaks.
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Maenporth Beach
A couple of miles further along from Swanpool Beach is Maenporth Beach, trammelled by cliffs and a fine spot for some sheltered swimming. There's also a small beach café selling drinks, snacks and ice-creams. All of Falmouth's beaches are accessible from the coast path, or you can catch the X89 bus from town. There are car parks at Swanpool and Maenporth, but they fill up quickly in summer.
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Swanpool Beach
A pleasant half-hour stroll along the headland is Swanpool Beach, backed by a small inland lagoon and nature reserve, populated by grebes, coots, kingfishers and mute swans. All of Falmouth's beaches are accessible from the coast path, or you can catch the X89 bus from town. There are car parks at Swanpool and Maenporth, but they fill up quickly in summer.
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Gyllyngvase Beach
Falmouth is blessed with a trio of town beaches. Most popular is Gyllyngvase Beach, a flat sandy beach backed by the funky Gylly Beach Café. All of Falmouth's beaches are accessible from the coast path, or you can catch the X89 bus from town. There are car parks at Swanpool and Maenporth, but they fill up quickly in summer.
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Jennycliff Beach
A little yellow ferry (10 minutes, every 30 minutes) shuttles from beside the Mayflower Steps across to the Mount Batten Peninsula. You can walk to rocky Jennycliff beach from there: get off the boat, walk west round the Napoleonic tower and stay on the coast path until the beach is signposted 15 minutes away on your right.
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Torre Abbey Sands
Torbay boasts no fewer than 20 beaches, and a surprising 22 miles of coast. Tourists flock to the central Torre Abbey Sands (covered by water at very high tides); the locals opt for the sand and shingle beaches below the 240ft red-clay cliffs at Babbacombe. These can be accessed by a glorious 1920s funicular railway.
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Babbacombe
Torbay boasts no fewer than 20 beaches, and a surprising 22 miles of coast. Tourists flock to the central Torre Abbey Sands (covered by water at very high tides); the locals opt for the sand and shingle beaches below the 240ft red-clay cliffs at Babbacombe. These can be accessed by a glorious 1920s funicular railway.
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Ammonite Pavement
A mile along Monmouth Beach to the west, hunt out the extraordinary ammonite pavement - hundreds of fossilised, swirling, sea creatures exposed in layers of rock. The beach is accessible at all stages of the tide, the best displays are around low water.
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Crantock
If the town beaches are too hectic, you'll find more elbow-room further afield. Three miles southwest is Crantock, sandwiched between the twin headlands of East and West Pentire, and backed by grassy dunes and the fast-flowing River Gannel.
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Porthgwidden
Near the museum, tucked under the grassy headland known under The Island, is the little cove of Porthgwidden, a pleasant picnic spot and a handy paddling spot for the little 'uns.
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Beach
Weymouth's beach is a chance to surrender to your inner kitsch and rent a deck chair, sun lounger or a pedalo. Alternatively, go all Californian and join a volleyball game.
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Watergate Bay
East of Newquay is the broad, flat beach of Watergate Bay, home to the latest branch of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant and a fast-growing centre for adventure sports.
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Porthmeor
Below the Tate is Porthmeor, top choice for swimmers and novice surfers thanks to its gentle swells, and with a handy beach café just below the Tate.
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Porthminster
With an attractive arc of soft golden sand that's usually sheltered from the wind by the cliffs, this beach inevitably gets busy on warm days.
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Holywell Bay
West of the town is the family favourite Holywell Bay, with powder-soft sand and rockpools and caves to explore at low tide.
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Weymouth Beach
Weymouth's fine sandy shore is perfect for a stroll down seaside memory lane. Here you can rent a deckchair, sun-lounger or pedalo , watch donkey rides, and see professional sandsculptors turn the golden grains into works of art. Alternatively, go all Californian and join a volleyball game.
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Sandbanks
A 2-mile, wafer-thin peninsula of land that curls around the expanse of Poole Harbour, Sandbanks is studded with some of the most expensive houses in the world. But the golden beaches that border them are free, and have some of the best water-quality standards in the country. They're also home to a host of water-sport operators.
Brownsea Island Ferries shuttle between Poole Quay and Sandbanks every half hour.
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Bournemouth Beach
Backed by 3000 deckchairs, Bournemouth's expansive, sandy shoreline regularly clocks up seaside awards. It stretches from Southborne in the far east to Alum Chine in the west – an immense promenade backed by ornamental gardens, cafes and toilets. The resort also prides itself on two piers (Bournemouth and Boscombe). Around Bournemouth Pier you can hire beach chalets, deckchairs (£2 per day), windbreaks (£2.50) and parasols (£4).
At the East Cliff Lift Railway, cable cars on rails wiz up bracken-covered slopes, cutting out the short, steep hike up the zigzag paths.
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